Accessibility/Pets

Accessability

Wheelchair Use at the Museum is Challenging

Dirt paths at Golondrinas

El Rancho de Las Golondrinas is a living history museum located on 200 acres in a rural farming valley just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Much of the property is either dirt or gravel, making it difficult to use a wheelchair.

Accessibility

El Rancho de Las Golondrinas simulates the rural environment of early New Mexico, therefore, many of the structures, paths, and entrances at the museum are more than a century old and built before the adoption of current accessibility standards. El Rancho de Las Golondrinas strives to make the museum as universally accessible as possible. Extra obstructions will be encountered because regulated building standards were not available at the time they were built and structures described as accessible do not necessarily comply fully with federal ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards.

ADA-Approved Assistance Animals

While no pets are permitted on the Museum grounds, ADA-approved assistance animals are permitted in accordance with federal ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and New Mexico State Law (SB320).

NoDogs

Pets are NOT allowed at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas

Please do not bring pets to the Museum. ADA-approved assistance animals are welcome in the Museum.

Summer days can be very hot and we do not have shelter or kennels for pets. Our parking lot has no shade. Leaving a pet in the car is extremely dangerous. Please make arrangements for pets while you plan to visit the Museum. Thank You.

Service Animals

New Mexico recognizes only dogs and miniature horses as service animals.

The 2013 New Mexico State Legislature passed a bill (SB320) that updates the Service Animal Act. Sponsored by Senator Nancy Rodriguez, Santa Fe, the “Service Animal Act” aligns New Mexico’s statute with the 2011 updates to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The updates prescribe that only dogs (and miniature horses under 100 pounds) qualify as Service Animals. Dogs or miniature horses qualify if they are trained to perform task(s) directly related to an individual’s disability, such as guiding people who are blind, pulling a wheelchair, or alerting someone of a seizure.

Service animals must be allowed to accompany the handler to any place in a building or facility where members of the public, program participants, customers, or clients are allowed. Even if a business or public program has a “no pets” policy, may not deny entry to a person with a service animal. Service animals are not pets. It may be appropriate to exclude a service animal from operating rooms or burn units where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile environment.

An entity may deny access to a service animal whose behavior is unacceptable or in situations in which the person with a disability is not in control of the animal. Uncontrolled barking, sniffing food at a restaurant table, jumping on other people, or running away from the handler are examples of unacceptable behavior for a service animal.

A Service Animal does not include pets, emotional support animals, comfort animals or therapy animals, which do not perform task(s) related to an individual’s disability.

The revised “Service Animal Act” also prohibits a person from misrepresenting an animal as a Service Animal and provides penalties, including a fine and/or jail time. The law became effective June 14, 2013. For additional information, call the Governor’s Commission on Disability at (505) 476-0412 or CLICK HERE.

For additional information about conditions and facilities at the Museum, Contact Us.